What in tarnation

Meh. This is the first I've read of Lehane and I have to say: this book just didn't do it for me. Nothing really happened until the middle of the book, and then a totally stale, mildly predictable, and poorly assembled saga unfolded. By the end, my dominant thought was "So?" Overall, an unsatisfying read that took a long time to get where it was going. And I'm still not even sure where that is.

Disclaimer: I bought this book on my own. Support your authors! Book Series: Standalone Rating: 1/5 Diversity: can’t say, DNFed Publication Date: May 9, 2017 Genre: Thriller Recommended Age: 18+ (language, mature sexual scenes, mental illness, and other stuff but I DNFed this book) Publisher: Ecco Pages: 419 Amazon Link Synopsis: Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. By turns heart- breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best Review: Again, another DNFed book. I tried to read this one and I thought I would like it, but I just couldn’t get into it. I DNFed it about 100 pages in. The book is very well detailed, but I can’t get over how the first part of the book focuses on the characters backstory and you won’t see the plot in the synopsis until about the middle of the book. This is way too much for me. I didn’t want an autobiography of the main character, I wanted to know about her mental illness. Verdict: If you can get into it, it’s a great read.

Ugh with this book... That was a long haul and I'm not entirely sure it was worth it. The premise: Rachel Childs is an ex-reporter who had a very public meltdown and is now a virtual shut-in. She does manage to met the man of her dreams, though, and lives a quiet, happy life with her husband in Boston. That is until she sees something she shouldn't see and her whole life starts to unravel. Sounds like it's going to be interesting, yes? Except, for the first 2/3rds of the books, it is anything BUT interesting. I put this book down so many times and mentally had to psych myself up to pick it back up again. It was just... so... boring. And for a book tagged as a thriller from the author of Shutter Island, "boring" was certainly the last thing I was expecting. The author did a great job with the characters, I will say that. I was curious about Rachel and Brian and all the players in their lives. But that curiosity stagnated somewhere in the middle of this book and it felt like I was just reading a day-by-day of someone else's fairly boring life. No thank you. The only reason this book is getting three stars is because of the last 1/3 of the book. That part of the book had my heart racing and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! Here was the thriller that I had been promised at the beginning! If only all the extraneous crap in the middle wasn't there, I probably would have loved this book. Ah well...